A tearful Sir Keir Starmer today announced his resignation as Labour Leader to clear the path for Andy Burnham to become the PM. His emotional statement came after a weekend spent mulling his future with his wife Victoria at Chequers.
Speaking outside No10, he said his party had asked “whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” adding: “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.”
He had previously been reported to have come to the conclusion that he had no realistic chance of beating Mr Burnham in a leadership contest after spending the weekend with his wife Victoria.
Sir Keir became the sixth prime ministerial resignation in the last decade. More than 100 Labour MPs demanded he quit just two years after he swept to power in a landslide victory.
And over the weekend, senior cabinet minsters added to the calls for him to move aside. It was earlier reported that Victoria had spent the weekend urging him to fight on.
She was said to be angry about “the treachery” of Burnham and especially Wes Streeting, who arranged for his key allies to step down to put maximum pressure on her husband.
One source told the Times: “She has been the one urging him to fight it. And she’s the one who’s with him.”
But Mr Burnham was said to be planning to present Starmer with evidence that he has the backing of more than 200 Labour MPs. And allies of the newly elected Makerfield MP believe a contest over the summer would be both “messy” and expensive.
On Friday, Sir Keir vowed to fight any leadership election if one was triggered after Mr Burnham’s stonking byelection victory, in which he received more votes than any other candidate and saw off an onslaught from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party.
But that afternoon, a succession of cabinet ministers – including transport secretary Heidi Alexander and foreign secretary Yvette Cooper transport secretary – told him to set out a timeline for his departure.
And by Sunday, business secretary Peter Kyle told the BBC: “I don’t want to come on here and be delusional that there is no process, there are no forces at work which are challenging the prime minister as leader – that is clearly the case.”
Many in Labour, including Mr Burnham’s allies, say a leadership contest will be a messy distraction that will come at huge cost of more than £1 million to the party.